Weatherford mom opens up after baby dies under care of babysitter

Less than 48 hours after the death of her infant, Weatherford mother Megan Norris mustered the strength to open up about her baby boy, John.

"He just started crawling on Sunday," she said through tears. "And he was nine months old yesterday."

It was a milestone he never made.

Police say John died late Monday night while under the care of his babysitter in a west Fort Worth home. He was discovered, police say, inside a walk-in closet. He'd been sleeping in a car seat, but wasn't strapped in properly and suffocated.

"I had no idea what was really going on, or I never would’ve left him there," Norris said Wednesday, on the steps of the district courthouse in Weatherford. She was flanked by her family friend and attorney Kitty Wise, and her mother, also an attorney, Lisa Crow.

Norris says because she works evening hours in the food industry, she wasn't able to use traditional daycare for her son. She says she found the babysitter after posting an ad on Facebook and had been using her for months. Norris and her mother say they interviewed the babysitter and visited her home before placing him there.

Norris was under the impression she babysat just John and one other child. Police discovered a different scene Monday night.

"The caretaker at the time was watching approximately 10 to 11 children at the time of this incident," said Officer Brad Perez with Fort Worth police.

CPS spokeswoman Marissa Gonzales confirms the caretaker is not a licensed daycare operator. She also says the household has been investigated in the past. WFAA also learned that CPS is "assessing the safety of the children who live in the caregiver's home."

Norris says she was cautious when selecting a babysitter but urges parents to do even more.

"No questions should be too intrusive," Norris says. "They should give you full access to their home. They should be able to provide whatever criminal and CPS background checks you want, and you should want them."

She doesn't want anyone else to lose a child the way she lost her John.

Fort Worth police say there's no update to the investigation Wednesday. No charges have been filed, so the name of the caretaker has not been publicized.